Ant-Man Reading Order!

Keeping up with Ant-Man will take you on a journey through Avengers history. Although he’s a founding Avenger, Ant-Man (Hank Pym) never had quite the same resonance as an Iron Man or Thor, meaning his solo series are few and far between.

Nonetheless, this makes the Ant-Man reading order experience pretty fun, as you dive through different eras of Marvel history, and see how Ant-Man has impacted the Avengers.

The below guide includes chronology for all versions of Ant-Man, or anyone using Pym Particles to alter their size for the greater good. As such, you’ll find Hank Pym, Scott Lang, Bill Foster, and even Eric O’Grady on the list.

Movie guide to better understand Scott Lang’s persona. The timeline jumps around slightly (for example I’d recommend you save Avengers #223 for the Trial of Yellow Jacket collection below), but this is a pretty good point to get acquanted with Scott Lang.

IV) Ant-Man Enters the 2000’s

Busiek and Perez take over Avengers in 1998 and build to this all-time great Ultron and Hank Pym story. Few modern Avengers arcs are as invested in the history of Hank Pym, The Wasp, Ultron and the whole wacky family!

Speaking of investments in Avengers History, Kurt Busiek’s Avengers Forever miniseries is a giant, dense love letter to the entire continuity of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With Avengers plucked from time, Busiek chooses Hank Pym’s Yellow Jacket as one of the titles lead characters.

Alias is not an Ant-Man comic, but this excellent Jessica Jones does feature Scott Lang at his most human, and is worth a read! Lang appears around issue #13, but you’ll enjoy the series much more if you read it all.

While Geoff Johns has worked wonders on properties like the Flash, JSA, and Green Lantern over at DC, his Avengers stint is not nearly so well regarded. Nonetheless, Johns puts plenty of focus on both Hank Pym and Scott Lang, including Avengers #62 which is very focused on Lang.

If it wasn’t for its inclusion on marvel.com, this series would be almost invisible. No collected addition, not available on Marvle Unlimited, and yet during 2003 and 2004, apparently Ant-Man had his own solo series. If you can track it down, I’d love to hear your take!

If you’re not reading Secret Invasion as a whole, I’m just going to warn you now that one individual tie-in is going to feel like a kick in the kidneys. That said, reading the whole Secret Invasion is a big undertaking, and obviously much of it is outside the sphere of “Ant-Man.” Mighty Avengers #15 has the largest ramifications for Hank Pym.

VII) Marvel NOW! Ant-Man

The F4 explore space, while Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Medusa, and Miss Thing are their substitues. As far as I’m concerned this si the best Scott Lang story. The series falls of the rails after Fraction leaves (around issue #12), but somehow even diminished still results in an Ant-Man vs. Docor Doom fist fight (so how bad can it really be?).

in the #10A.I. epilogue, Mark Waid examines why Hank Pym is one of the great Marvel characters, despite his screw-ups. It’s a good read that will hit home harder with the full Age of Ultron read under your belt. Note that #10A.I. is available on Marvel Unlimited, but not in the collected trade.

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He's a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.